Tears Upon Ash
by Ivory Novelist
Summary: Short AU Angst fic. NO SLASH! Warning: Character Death


Disclaimer: LOTR is Tolkein's genius, not mine. _  
  
A/N: A short little AU piece. Very angsty. Reviews are greatly appreciated. ^_^ Don't neglect my Brothers in Heart! NO SLASH!  
  
Tears Upon Ash  
  
It was over. The battle of the Pelennor Fields, the biggest battle in the history of Middle Earth, was over. The righteous had prevailed; the wicked had failed, but much had been lost no matter who the victory had belonged to. The roaring of battle still echoed in the ears of the men, though now in the aftermath, a heavy silence fell upon the land. The silence of death. And death now ruled this battlefield, no matter who was left to walk the tainted soil of its grounds.  
Aragorn, by some miracle of the Valar, had escaped unscathed. He only prayed his comrades were equally fortunate. He and Eomer had spent much of the fight together but he had left Aragorn as well to fight on. The ranger had long lost sight of Gimli and Legolas. He set out in search for them, not calling their name for some reason in the back of his mind not to speak in the silence of death. Aragorn sauntered through the battlefield, looking grievously upon the bodies of his fallen men and somewhat gladly upon the carcasses of the foul Uruk Hai. He still held Anduril in his hand, the blade coated in blood. His stormy gray eyes searched the ground, seeking any sign of his friends, and praying not to find any.  
  
" Gimli ", he finally said. " Legolas. Eomer ", he called, but with no reply.  
  
Smoke rose from where torches had fallen, and the earth was dark, tainted with the blood of many races, both good and evil. The sky was bleak, shadowed with death, and dark clouds concealed the sun, threatening to release rain as tears of mourning for those lost. Aragorn, heir to Gondor, king in his own right, felt the death of his people weigh upon his heart. It was all he saw now, in the aftermath, when in battle he did not have time to truly look.  
  
" Gimli ", he called again. " Eomer, answer me. Legolas."  
  
" Aragorn ", he thought he heard faintly. " Aragorn ", came a strangled reply.  
  
The ranger followed it, and a chill pierced his heart as he recognized that voice. He followed it, sought out who called to him with dread in his mind at what he would see.  
  
There, lying propped up against the slope of a hill, was Legolas. Even then, in the dark shadow of the battlefield, Aragorn could see his golden hair draped across his shoulders. The ranger rushed to his side, stumbling in his haste. He fell to his knees beside the fallen Elf. The prince of Mirkwood looked upon the man who was his best friend with the same blue eyes he always had; yet they lost their light now. He was unnaturally pale, his lips quivering as if he were cold. Legolas still clutched his bow in one hand, and though he was clad in his usual armor, Aragorn saw that an arrow had managed to pierce his breast, right above his heart, less than an inch below his pauldron. The wound bled heavily, and the Elf's labored breathing struck fear in the ranger. And he also noticed that the prince had taken a wound to his side.  
  
" Legolas ", he said as he looked upon the prince. His hand moved toward the arrow, but Legolas stopped him.  
  
" Don't ", he choked. " Leave it. "  
  
" I just need to remove it, Legolas. And then get you to a Healer, you'll be fine ", Aragorn told him, though he felt it was more for his own reassurance, than the Elf's.  
  
Legolas shook his head, closing his eyes and then opening them again to stare at the man hovering over him.  
  
" It's over, Aragorn. It's over ", he said.  
  
" No, Legolas. It's over for this battle, not for you. It's nothing; you'll be fine. Just let me help you ", Aragorn shook his head in denial.  
  
" Aragorn ", Legolas said, his eyes locking with the ranger's. " I'm sorry."  
  
Aragorn did not understand and wore a confused expression.  
  
" I.....I failed you, Aragorn. I failed you ", the Elf said mournfully.  
  
" No, Legolas. You have never failed me in all the time I have known you ", Aragorn told him. And indeed, he had met the prince when he was a very small child, a long time ago.  
  
" I could have done better for you. I could have been a better warrior, a better friend ", Legolas muttered, his eyes glazing over slightly as he remembered the past.  
  
" I have known no better warrior, Legolas. No one more valiant or fearless. I could never be more honored than to have fought beside you ", Aragorn replied. " And you're my best friend, Legolas. A friend I don't deserve. And one I thank the Valar for ", he added.  
  
Legolas squeezed Aragorn's hand, as they were clasped together.  
  
" I fail you now, Aragorn. I leave you, give into weakness, when I should have stood by you until the end ", he remarked.  
  
" You're not weak, Legolas. You are the strongest person I know. And you're not leaving me, now. You'll never leave me ", the ranger answered the Elf.  
  
" Perhaps not in spirit, Aragorn. But I leave you behind in this world, when I go on to the next ", Legolas said.  
  
Aragorn shook his head in disbelief.  
  
" I won't believe that, Legolas. I won't let you go ", he said firmly.  
  
" That is..", Legolas panted. " That is not your decision to make, Aragorn. Even as a king."  
  
" I don't care. I won't let you, Legolas. Not now. Not yet ", Aragorn hissed frantically.  
  
Aragorn let go of Legolas' hand and moved to pull out the arrow. He took it from Legolas' flesh before the Elf could stop him, and Legolas hissed in pain briefly before returning back to his heavy breathing.  
  
" Come on now, Legolas. I have to take you to a healer ", Aragorn persisted as he attempted to pick the Elf up.  
  
But again, Legolas stopped him. Weak though he was, he stopped the ranger. Before Aragorn could scoop the Elf up in his arms, Legolas slid his cold hand up to cup Aragorn's neck. He pulled the man's head down to rest upon his own forehead, and held it there. Both of them panted rhythmically, Legolas shuddering from the icy cold that now consumed him from loss of blood.  
  
Aragorn let a tear escape him, as he admitted defeat to his friend and to the reality that Legolas was dying. He felt his heart breaking with an unwavering pain and a lump rise in his throat; he couldn't breathe. Legolas was not supposed to die. He was an Elf; Elves were immortal. The ranger wasn't supposed to lose his best friend now. He was supposed to be the one to die one day, after living a life with Legolas there. It wasn't fair.  
  
Aragorn's hand crept up to rest over the Elf's heart, as Legolas' chest rose and fell with each labored effort to breathe. Legolas lay his own hand over his best friend's as he felt the man, who was a warrior and a king, begin to weep. And the Elf found in surprise that he too, shed tears now.  
  
He never imagined he would die, or be slain in battle. But he did not fear death, though he did not understand it. His was a valiant death of a warrior who served his king. And his friend.  
  
Eomer and Gimli, who had met up only moment ago, ran up a distance behind Aragorn and Legolas, panting. They had finally found their friends but not all well. Gimli moved to run forward as he realized that Legolas lay fallen, but Eomer stopped the Dwarf. He granted Aragorn this time alone with the Elf prince.  
  
Aragorn and Legolas remained as they were, foreheads together, Legolas' hand cupping the man's neck. Both panted, Aragorn with tears and Legolas fighting to keep breathing at all. Legolas held Aragorn's hand to his heart and let his slender fingers curl around his best friend's hand. Aragorn had his other hand upon the Elf's golden hair, his thumb stroking back and forth over the Elf's hairline. Their tears mingled upon their faces, and fell onto the ground and it's tainted soil coated with ash. Each moment slipped swiftly by them, as Legolas put forth what strength he had left in grasping air. Neither of the two friends spoke, for there were no words for what they wanted to say or how they felt. And they would not say good-bye.  
  
Legolas gasped for air, his chest heaving rapidly though he still held Aragorn's hand to his racing heart. The Elf panted and choked, his lungs pleading for air, but he could not give it to them. His scarlet blood still flowed from his wounds, and stained both his hand and Aragorn's.  
  
And the prince's hand slipped from the ranger's neck. Legolas struggled for air no longer, and his heart was silenced beneath his best friend's hand. And yet somehow, tears still ran down the Elf's fair face, yet those blue eyes lay closed.  
  
Aragorn moaned as he felt Legolas leave him, and sobbed as he collapsed upon the Elf's still form. Eomer bowed his head in respect, and Gimli stifled a cry of grief and disbelief. The ranger lay upon the prince's chest, weeping uncontrollably. He found Legolas' pale hand, and pressed his own into it, lacing his fingers with the lifeless ones of the Elf.  
  
Legolas was dead. His spirit had flown from the shadows of the battlefield and to the Halls of Mandos as a dove, the wind beneath his ivory wings.  
  
Yet Aragorn's tears still fell upon the ash, tears of mourning for his comrade killed, his friend gone, his brother lost. The ranger would carry his body back to Minas Tirith with tender arms and a heart weary with sorrow and toil.  
  
The battle had been long one. The biggest battle in history. Yet the righteous had won, and the wicked had failed. But in the silent shadow of death that hovered over the land that day, there was no light of victory. For no victory was ever worth one man's life, and even more so, the life of a friend. No, there was only loss that day. Loss of one whom had been a brother in the heart of a king, and loss of many men after.  
  
There was no light on the field that day. Legolas had taken the sun with him.  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
A/N: I DID IT! I killed my beloved Legolas! *sob* 


End file.
